Donnie Davies at SXSW

I'll do a full SXSW wrap-up later, but I had to write about Donnie Davies' show. If you are not familiar with this internet phenomenon, Donnie purports to be an ex-gay Christian singer - he's not really any of those things. Read his thoughts here and be sure to watch the video for "The Bible Says."

A SXSW staffer told me that he'd shown the video to people in the office and one of the music guys was eager to book Donnie Davies. They slyly chose to put him on the same night as The Buzzcocks and Turbonegro, bands with more than a little homo-osity about them.



Donnie hit the stage to loud cheers and they immediately ripped into "Surrender" by Cheap Trip. On the "but don't give yourself away" line, Donnie would cover his crotch and shake his head. They actually pulled off the cover well and most of the audience was on board. Evening Service appeared to be the same band that's in "The Bible Says" video and the MTV interview, including bad wigs.



The next song served as proof that Donnie is totally not gay anymore, no sir. He grinded with the sexy lady dancers while performing a Timberlakian number.



At one point, Donnie asked the audience if there were any homosexuals among them who wanted to get saved. Having no desire to be saved, I nonetheless raised my hand as did several other people. Donnie pulled up a very obviously planted guy named Gary Bentler up on stage and had him demonstrate his limp wrist. In an attempt to "heal" him, Donnie lead us in the C.H.O.P.S. (Changing Homosexuals into Ordinary People) salute, while chanting "Heal Bentler." You can probably guess what the salute and chant devolved into.

Interestingly, in addition to not being an ex-gay (or probably gay at all) or Christian (at least of the scary variety), Donnie's not even a singer. He just lip-syncs while this guy sings off-stage:



Donnie and Evening Service closed with "The Bible Says" which was a rousing success with the audience, at least half of whom had never heard it before. All-in-all a wonderful palate cleanser before I headed off to more music elsewhere.

UPDATE: Due to financial constraints, I have to sell the Donnie Davies t-shirt I bought at the show. I listed it on eBay at the price I paid, $20.